Basin covering device

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a shelter (A) for, for example, a pool- or spa-type recreational basin (B) that is formed of roofing elements (I) and is capable of passing from a deployed position, where the roofing elements are placed in a juxtaposed manner and the basin is covered, to a stacked position, where the roofing elements are placed one over the other and the basin is partially or completely uncovered, said roofing elements (I) including two transverse sections ( 110  and  120 ) cross-tied with longitudinal cross-pieces ( 130 ), with the so-called extreme cross-pieces ( 140  and  150 ) placed on the ends of said sections ( 110  and  120 ) that eventually rest on the rim of the basin (B) through a rolling means ( 300 ) that is formed of wheels ( 310 ) and remarkable in that the wheels ( 310 ) are mounted on wheel holders ( 320 ) that are foldably mounted relative to the extreme cross-pieces ( 140  and  150 ) so as to enable the folding away thereof during the stacking of the roofing elements (I).

FIELD OF APPLICATION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of pleasure pools such as those used for swimming pools, spas, etc, and in particular to adaptations enabling covering thereof under the best possible conditions.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

There exist in the prior art shelters for pleasure pools such as those used for swimming pools, spas, etc, which, formed by roof elements, are able to pass from a deployed position where the roof elements are disposed juxtaposed and the pool is covered, to a stacked position where the roof elements are disposed one above the other and the pool is partially or completely uncovered.

This passage from one configuration to another, which is of course reversible, is implemented by movement means, motorised or not. One example of a shelter and motorisation means implementing passage from an unfolded position to a deployed position and vice versa, is described in the document WO 2005/052285.

The applicant found that, in the stacked position, said roof elements formed a not insignificant volume disposed conventionally at the end of the pool and liable to impair the general aesthetic appearance of the pool. This drawback is all the more detrimental in a configuration where the roof elements have been chosen with a flattened shape to avoid an excessively large volume above the pool.

In addition, when the roof elements are stacked inside a trench provided for this purpose, the depth and therefore the cost of this trench would depend on the height of the volume formed by the stack of roof elements.

Part of the volume defined by the stack is in particular due to the presence of running means that facilitate the translational movement of the roof elements above the pool when they pass from one arrangement to another. These running means must hold the rim of the roof element at a sufficient height with respect to the top surface of the rim of the pool so that no obstacle interferes with the translation movements. However, the edges that conventionally form the rim of the pools are liable to constitute an upwardly projecting volume requiring the running means to raise the roof elements with respect to the top rim of the pool.

These running means then greatly contribute to the not insignificant height of the volume formed by the roof elements in the stacked position.

The swimming pool shelter described in the document WO 02/0884490 consists of roof elements equipped on their rims with running means travelling on a movement track preformed in the vertical rims of the pool itself, a movement track allowing movement of the roof elements without obstacle since the travel is effected within the limits of the pool. These roof elements therefore do not need to move at a great height with respect to the running means support surface (difference in height necessary in the case of an obstacle such as an edge).

The covering elements described in the document DE 202005012810 are equipped on their rims with running means the support surface of which is situated at least at the same level or above the bottom surface of the covering elements, thus providing a stack without interference caused by the running means.

The reduction in the excessive volume taken by the roof or covering elements in the stacked position because of the presence of the running means is therefore not posed for the configurations described in these two documents.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Noting this, the applicant carried out research on a shelter for a pleasure pool able to have a reduced volume in the stacked position. This research resulted in the design of a shelter for a pleasure pool of the swimming pool, spa, etc type which, formed by roof elements, is able to pass from a deployed position in which the roof elements are disposed juxtaposed and the pool is covered, to a stacked position where the roof elements are disposed one above the other and the pool is partially or completely uncovered,

said roof elements comprising two transverse profiles braced by longitudinal crossmembers with the so-called end crossmembers disposed at the ends of said profiles resting on the rim of the pool by means of running means that consist of castors,

which is remarkable in that

the castors are mounted on castor supports mounted foldably with respect to the end crossmembers so as to allow retraction thereof when the roof elements are stacked.

This feature is particularly advantageous in that it meets the objective of the invention, which is the reduction in the volume of the stacked roof elements by retraction of the running means during stacking thereof. Thus, whatever the height necessary between the roof element and the top rim of the pool, the height of the castor supports no longer participates in the height of the stack and therefore the volume thereof. The volume of such a stack is thus greatly reduced thereby.

The use of a foldable connection would nevertheless come up against the need for a robust connection able to support the weight of the stacked roof elements while guaranteeing passage of the castor support from a folded position to a deployed position without any effort and without any additional actuator. The applicant therefore carried out research that resulted in a solution meeting these criteria and remarkable in that

said castors are each associated with a castor support that cooperates in two connections with said end crossmembers, namely

a first connection of the vertical runner type and a second connection of the pivot type both arranged so that, when the roof element is raised,

the castor support is released through its weight while remaining vertical to the vertical guidance elements forming said runner connection and is free to rotate and can pivot through its pivot connection for the purpose of retraction in the thickness of the roof element during stacking

and that

when the roof element is raised and returns to its initial height,

the castor support can pivot in the vertical position through its pivot connection and engage by vertical sliding in said guidance means.

Another advantage of this feature is that the retraction can be carried out automatically. Thus, for example according to the motorisation device proposed in the document WO 2005/052285, the roof elements pass from a juxtaposed position to a stacked position by means of a motorised device providing the translation movement and stacking from the bottom, that is to say by raising of the roof element or elements previously stacked and insertion, by translation at the stack bottom, of the following roof element and vice versa. According to the invention, the height of the roof elements and the lifting travel of the device are such that the roof element supported by its running means and inserted from the bottom comes into contact with the running means of the roof element situated at the stack bottom and raised in order to ensure, in its translation movement, retraction of the running means of said raised element.

When the stacking is carried out from the top, as is the case for a stack in a trench, an identical translation movement can be used.

For implementation of this retraction, one difficulty lay in the ability to offer a castor support able to pivot freely despite, but while enabling, the translation travel thereof. According to a particularly advantageous feature, the castor support is preformed with an oblong hole allowing both translation and pivot connection with respect to a shaft fixed to the end crossmember.

According to another particularly advantageous feature of the invention, the end crossmember is preformed with an area accepting the top end of said castor support when the roof element rests on its running means.

According to another particularly advantageous feature of the invention, said end crossmember is preformed with a longitudinal U-shaped profile in which the top end of said support slides, stops being disposed on either side of said top end of the castor support in order to guide it in translation.

According to another particularly advantageous feature, the top end of the support consists of a parallelepipedal profile the flat surfaces of which participate in the translational guidance.

The transverse profiles can be either curved, folded or rectilinear. Nevertheless, as explained above, the invention is particularly justified for a shelter adopting roof elements flattened in shape. However, the roof elements forming a support frame for filling panels that constitute large horizontal flat surfaces are liable to present difficulties for the discharge of surface water. With regard to the solution for retraction of the castor supports proposed by the invention, the applicant imagined a shelter where the rims of the roof elements are not of the same height so that the inclination created facilitates and orients the discharge of the water received by the roof element. Such a particularly judicious configuration would pose problems for a stacking solution because of an accumulated inclination whereas the retraction of the castor support allows flat stacking.

The fundamental concepts of the invention having been disclosed above in their most elementary form, other details and features will emerge more clearly from a reading of the following description and with regard to the accompanying drawings, giving, by way non-limitative example, an embodiment of a swimming pool shelter according to the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic drawing of a general perspective view of an embodiment according to the invention of a flat shelter in the deployed position,

FIG. 2 is a drawing of the flat shelter of FIG. 1 in the folded position, where the roof elements are stacked at one end of the pool,

FIG. 3 is a schematic drawing of a perspective view of an embodiment of a roof element alone,

FIG. 4 is a schematic drawing of a front view of a roof element in an inclined configuration,

FIG. 5 is a schematic drawing of a front view in section of a castor support cooperating with the end crossmember, the support being engaged in the runner connection,

FIG. 6 is a schematic drawing of an external side view of the same support in the same position,

FIG. 7 is a schematic drawing of a front view in section of the support module released from the runner connection,

FIG. 8 is a schematic drawing of an external side view of the same support in the same position as that in FIG. 7,

FIG. 9 is a schematic drawing of an external side view of the same support in the retracted position,

FIGS. 10, 11, 12 and 13 are schematic drawings of views in section of roof elements during stacking by means of a motorised device.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

As illustrated in the drawing in FIGS. 1 and 2, a shelter referenced A is disposed above a pleasure pool referenced B of the swimming pool type. This shelter A is formed from roof elements I that are able to pass from a deployed position in which the roof elements I are disposed juxtaposed and the pool B is covered as illustrated by FIG. 1, to a stacked position in which the roof elements I are disposed one above the other on a storage area situated at the end of the pool and the pool B is partially or completely uncovered as illustrated by FIG. 2.

The implementation of the movements necessary for passing from a juxtaposed position to a stacked position of the roof elements I and vice versa is achieved by means of a motorised device D shown schematically and which is equipped with movement transmission means cooperating with the rims of the roof elements I in order to move them in horizontal translation according to the arrow F1 and to make them pass into the stacked position by insertion through the bottom of the stack. More precisely, according to the embodiment illustrated, the device D comprises two movement housings disposed on either side of the roof elements and ensuring synchronised movement.

According to the embodiment described, the shelter A is of the flat type and is composed of flat roof elements I, an example of which is illustrated by FIG. 3.

According to the embodiment illustrated, said roof element I is composed of a rigid structure 100 framing and supporting one or more filling panels 200. More precisely, the rigid structure 100 comprises two transverse profiles 110 and 120 braced by longitudinal crossmembers 130 with crossmembers 140 and 150 referred to as end crossmembers since they are disposed at the ends of said profiles 110 and 120 coming to rest on the rim of the basin B by means of running means 300 comprising castors 310. These castors are oriented so as to run along a track parallel to the longitudinal axis of the swimming pool.

These end crossmembers 140 and 150 are in fact profiles preformed or equipped to fulfil several functions, including the acceptance of the running means. As illustrated, each end crossmember 140 and 150 accepts a pair of running means 300 that supports and facilitates the movement of the roof element over the pool.

These end crossmembers are also preformed or equipped at the top part in order to position and support the castors of a roof element that is being stacked. In addition, these crossmembers are preformed or equipped to give attachment means to the motorised device participating in the raising necessary for stacking.

The transverse profiles 110 and 120 are preformed or equipped so as to enable them to be fixed to each other at isolated points when they are disposed and move into the juxtaposed position and to enable them to be released when they are stacked. These profiles are also preformed or equipped so that the profile of a roof element overlaps or is overlapped by the profile of the adjacent roof element.

The connection between the running means 300 and the end crossmembers of the roof elements is detailed below with regard to the drawings illustrating more particularly the connection between a running means 300 and the end crossmember 150. According to the embodiment illustrated, this connection is achieved under the surface of the roof element I at the bottom face of the profile forming said end crossmember 150.

As illustrated by FIGS. 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9, and in accordance with the invention, the castor 310 is associated with a castor support 320 forming a vertical leg, which cooperates in two connections with the end crossmember 150, namely a first connection of the vertical runner type according to the double arrow F2 and a second connection of the pivot type according to the double arrow F3.

These two connections and the constituent elements thereof are arranged so that, when the roof element I is raised above the ground (cf. FIGS. 7 and 8), the castor support 320 is released through its own weight while remaining vertical to the vertical guidance elements 330 forming said runner connection and is free to rotate according to the double arrow F3 in order to pivot through its pivot connection for the purpose of retraction in the thickness of the roof element I during stacking (cf. FIG. 9),

and so that

when the roof element I is raised and returns to its initial height,

the castor support 320 can pivot (double arrow F3) and return to the vertical position through its pivot connection and engage by vertical sliding (double arrow F2) in said guidance means 330.

As illustrated, the castor support 320 is preformed with an oblong hole 321 enabling both translation and pivot connection with respect to a shaft 340 fixed to the end crossmember. This oblong hole 321 is preformed so that its elongation is oriented vertically and so as to define a translational travel where, when the roof element I rests on its castors, the support 320 is engaged in the elements 330 making up the runner connection and where, when the roof element I is raised, the support 320 driven by its weight disengages from said elements 330 constituting the runner until the top end of the oblong hole 321 comes into abutment against the shaft 340. The rounded shape of the ends of the oblong hole 321 facilitates the pivoting of the castor support 320.

According to the non-limitative embodiment illustrated, the pivot shaft 340 is formed by a screw which, cooperating with a threaded socket 341 housed in the crossmember 150, is equipped with a head 342. This head 342 prevents the support 320 being released from its pivot connection and limits the transverse movements thereof in order to guarantee that, once it has returned to the vertical position, the top end of the castor support slides in the elements 330 making up the runner.

The end crossmember 150 is in fact preformed with an area accepting the top end of said castor support 320 when the roof element I rests on its wheels. This acceptance area is composed of two parts: a part preformed in the crossmember limiting the transverse translation movements and another part coming to be fixed to the crossmember and guiding the vertical translation of the top end of the support while preventing rotation about the shaft 340.

For said first part, said end crossmember 150 is preformed with a profile in a longitudinal U shape 151 in which the top end of said support 320 slides. The second part for its part consists of two stops disposed either side of said top end of the castor support 320 to guide it in translation. These two stops 351 and 352 are joined in pairs by a single bracket 350 facilitating installation thereof and guaranteeing separation thereof.

The association of these two stops 351 and 352 with the U-shaped profile 151 of the crossmember 150 creates a parallelepipedal acceptance volume to which the top end of the castor support 320 adapts, which, advantageously, is formed by a parallelepipedal profile the flat surfaces of which participate in the translational guidance.

The corners of this parallelepiped are bevelled to facilitate insertion of the top end of the castor support 320 in the acceptance area.

As illustrated on the drawing in FIG. 9, the castor support 320 adopts symmetrical recesses 322 the function of which is to prevent the body of the support 320 coming into contact with the stops 351 or 352 when it rotates and prevents retraction thereof under the roof element I.

The design of this double connection enables particularly judicious use of a motorisation system providing the stacking and deployment of the roof elements as proposed in the document WO 2005/052285.

This is because, as illustrated on the drawings in FIGS. 10, 11, 12 and 13, the retraction and the return to the original position of the running elements are achieved automatically as described below.

As illustrated by FIG. 10, a first roof element I is already in engagement in the motorised stacking device D and is disposed in the high position. Thus, in accordance with the situation illustrated by FIGS. 7 and 8, the supports 320 are free to rotate. A roof element I′ comes to be inserted through the bottom of the stack according to the arrow F1.

As illustrated by FIG. 11, the height of the roof element I′ resting on its castors and the height of the running means 300 in the low position of the first roof element I are defined so that, in its translation movement, the roof element I′ comes into contact with the castors of said running means 300 of said first element and ensures the folding and retraction of said running means of said first element I as illustrated on the drawing in FIG. 12.

Once retraction has been achieved, the top roof element I can rest directly and without the intervention of its running means 300 on the bottom roof element I′, which rests on its own running means.

According to the embodiment illustrated by the drawing in FIG. 4, the rims of the room element I are not at the same height so that the inclined plane facilitates and orients the discharge of the water received by the roof element. This feature is implemented by means of a roof element identical to those described above but where the castor supports are longer on one side of the roof element with respect to the other.

The material of the filling panel or panels is of little importance and is selected in accordance with the situation and the requirements of the client; the materials already envisaged are listed below:

-   -   polycarbonate, honeycomb or not,     -   translucent, transparent or opaque material,     -   wood and derivatives,     -   material of the sandwich type with improved thermal         characteristics,     -   etc.

It will be understood that the shelter that has just been described and depicted above was so described and depicted with a view to disclosure rather than limitation.

Naturally various arrangements, modifications and improvements could be made to the above example without for

all that departing from the scope of the invention. 

1-8. (canceled)
 9. Shelter for a pleasure pool of the swimming pool, spa, etc type which, formed by roof elements, is able to pass from a deployed position in which the roof elements are disposed juxtaposed and the pool is covered, to a stacked position in which the roof elements are disposed one above the other and the pool is partially or completely uncovered, said roof elements comprising two transverse profiles braced by longitudinal crossmembers with the so-called end crossmembers disposed at the ends of said profiles coming to rest on the rim of the pool by means of running means that consist of castors, the castors being mounted on castor supports mounted foldably with respect to the end crossmembers so as to allow retraction thereof when the roof elements are stacked, characterised by the fact that said castors are each associated with a castor support that cooperates, in two connections, with said end crossmembers, namely a first connection of the vertical runner type and a second connection of the pivot type both arranged so that, when the roof element is raised, the castor support is released through its weight while remaining vertical to the vertical guidance elements forming said runner connection and is free with respect to rotation and can pivot through its pivot connection for the purpose of retraction in the thickness of the roof element during stacking, and that, when the roof element is raised and returns to its initial height, the castor support can pivot in the vertical position through its pivot connection and engage by vertical sliding in said guidance means.
 10. Shelter according to claim 9 characterised by the fact that said castor support is preformed with an oblong hole enabling both translation and pivot connection with respect to a shaft fixed to the end crossmember.
 11. Shelter according to claim 9 characterised by the fact that the end crossmember is preformed with an area accepting the top end of said castor support when the roof element rests on its running means.
 12. Shelter according to claim 9 characterised by the fact that said end crossmember is preformed as a profile in a longitudinal U shape in which the top end of said support slides, stops being disposed on either side of said top end of the castor support in order to guide it in translation.
 13. Shelter according to claim 9 characterised by the fact that the top end of the support is formed by a parallelepipedal profile the flat surfaces of which participate in the translational guidance.
 14. Shelter according to claim 9 characterised by the fact that the rims of the roof elements are not at the same height so that the inclination created facilitates and orients the discharge of the water received by the roof element.
 15. Shelter according to claim 9 cooperating with a motorised device making the roof elements pass automatically from a juxtaposed position to a stacked position and ensuring the translational movement and stacking from the bottom, that is to say by raising the roof element or elements previously stacked and inserting, by translation at the stack bottom, the following roof element and vice versa, characterised by the fact that the height of the roof elements and the travel of the raising of the device are such that the roof element supported by its running means and inserted through the bottom comes into contact with the running means of the roof element situated at the stack bottom and raised in order to ensure, in its translation movement, the retraction of the running means of said raised element. 